


The Other Half

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Animal Instincts, Boys In Love, Dark Keith (Voltron), Galra Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Violence, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Romance, Rutting, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-21 14:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20695076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Turns out there’s a lot about Galra anatomy and behaviors that Keith still needs to learn about…





	The Other Half

**Author's Note:**

> Or, the one where Keith gets his rut and nearly loses his mind.

Despite having to wake up early every single morning at Coran’s request, Keith wasn’t normally a morning person. Even with that fact, though, he had never awakened feeling as bad as he did right then. There was an awful twisting sensation in the pit of his belly, and his heart was pounding, much like it did in the middle of a battle. He groaned, gritting his teeth and forcing himself to sit up, fists clenching as if acting on their own free will.

_He wanted to kill something_.

The thought startled him, and Keith blinked, trying to free his mind of the haze that had settled. He peeled off his nightclothes, replacing them with his training armor. All his pent-up frustration – it was probably just because the past few days had been fairly lax, focused more on diplomatic meetings than fighting. A few hours of training would fix everything.

At least, that’s what he hoped.

After brushing his teeth and pulling half of his hair into a loose ponytail, he let out a sigh, feeling a bit more relaxed. His senses still felt like they were going haywire, every sound and scent catching his attention, but the anger had dissipated. This, he could live with.

* * *

It seemed like everyone else was feeling the same as Keith.

Usually, it was just him, maybe Lance, but today, all four of the other paladins were present. Shiro was watching, providing guidance when needed, as Hunk and Pidge sparred. On the other side of the room, Lance was practicing with his broadsword, mutilating a training robot. His skill would always lie with his rifle, after all, who could forget how many times he had saved Keith’s ass alone, but he had improved greatly with a sword.

He wanted to spar with him, and he wanted to do it _now_.

“Lance,” he shouted over the sound of Hunk and Pidge’s bayards clashing. “Come practice with me.”

“End training session.” Lance walked over as the robot turned off and collapsed. His hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat, and he swiped at the unruly strands, pushing them away. “Nice of you to finally join us, Mullet. Though, I guess you could use all the beauty sleep you can get.”

“Shut up and fight me.” Keith’s palms were practically itchy as his bayard morphed into his sword. The weight in his hand seemed to settle his nerves ever so slightly. Lance rolled his eyes, raising his sword.

“Alright, come at m-” Keith was swinging his blade before younger paladin could finish his sentence. The forced nearly knocked his sward out of his hands, and indignant blue eyes stared at him. The look was enough to send Keith into a fury of slashing and jabbing.

“Dammit, Keith! Ease up!” Lance puffed out, barely managing to block Keith’s attacks. Each one came harder and faster than the last with enough power to nearly knock Lance off his feet each time. “You’re going to take my head off!”

Keith grunted in reply. At the back of his mind, he knew that he was being a bit over the top – training was never this intense – but the same crippling feeling to defeat, to dominate, to _destroy_ from earlier that morning was flooding over him again, drowning his senses. He wasn’t sure if wanted to watch Lance bleed or –

“Keith, that’s enough!” Shiro, who had been watching from the sidelines just seconds earlier, shouted. Displeasure was evident on his features, and it only fueled Keith further. _He’d break Lance and then Shiro if he had to._

Lance ducked, barely avoiding a swipe that would have most likely ‘taken his head off’. Before he could gather his composure again, though, Keith brought the blade down again. Lance used his own sword to block the attack, but not before the tip came painfully close to the soft skin of his throat.

And, for the first time since Sendak invaded the Castle of Lions, his eyes were filled with fear. Keith licked his lips, a low, inhumane growl sounding in his chest. It was like he was watching himself from the back of his mind, yet he still felt his chest swell with pride at the pitiful, _pathetic_ look Lance was giving him.

“Keith, drop your weapon,” Shiro commanded at the same time Lance said, “Your eyes…”

Keith bared his teeth at Shiro, another growl escaping his throat. Part of his mind was screaming at him to not let anyone – Shiro, Hunk, or even Pidge – take a step closer while the other part, the part that was still clinging to humanity, pleaded with him.

“Dammit! Drop your weapon!”

A sudden movement in his peripheral caught Keith’s attention, and he whipped his head to the side, snarling as Pidge lunged for him, bayard out. As the only one in her paladin armor, she was the most prepared of them all.

But she didn’t even have to touch him.

The moment of distraction was just enough to allow Shiro to intervene, roughly shoving Keith to the ground and bending his sword arm behind his back, using enough strength to restrain him without breaking the bones. It didn’t stop his face from hitting the floor, though, and blood erupted from his nose. The ache of his broken nose didn’t compare to the hatred boiling within him as he was _pinned_ to the ground.

“Get the hell off of me,” he snarled.

Shiro ignored him. “Hunk, go get Allura and Coran. Tell them it’s an emergency. Pidge, check on Lance.”

“Yessir,” the two paladins said, going their separate ways. The sight of Pidge touching Lance was enough for Keith to let out another growl as he attempted to twist away from Shiro. The movement caused his arm to stretch further, and the bone threated to dislocate.

“Don’t touch him,” Keith managed to grit out. Shiro tightened his grip.

“Keith, you need to calm down and tell us what is happening. We can’t help you unless you tell us what’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong except for the fact she’s touching him.” Defeated, Keith let his forehead rest of the floor, a heavy huff falling from his bloodied lips.

Shiro gave Pidge a pointed look, and she stepped away from Lance, who brought his legs up to his chest. His wide blue eyes were trained on Keith, and his face was red from the strain of their fight. The smell of his fear still lingered in the air, thick enough that Keith could taste it.

“Look, she’s not touching him. Can we please have a civil conversation now, or are you going to go back on your rampage?” Shiro’s voice was in his ear, and the human part of Keith scrambled at the memory of pleading with Kuron. This, though, this was Shiro – his brother. The fact caused him to relax into the floor, despite the fact his muscles still burned and ached with the desire to…to…Keith didn’t even know what he wanted.

His ears twitched as he heard Coran talking. “I couldn’t get Allura to come, not with Keith so controlled by his Galra side.”

“That’s understandable.” Hunk.

The door to the training room opened, and before Keith could even blink, Coran was kneeling beside him, prodding at his face and ears. Despite feeling much calmer, the touches caused him to snap and bare his teeth, a weak growl dying in his throat. He was too tired to fight anymore, but Coran probing him like an experiment, along with the fact that Pidge was looking at him like some sort of puzzle, was really pissing him off.

“This is very interesting,” Coran said, not even phased by Keith trying to remove his fingers. He turned to Lance, who was still shaken up and quiet. “Can you tell me exactly what happened?”

“We were just sparring like usual, and then he went absolutely batshit,” Lance said, throwing his arms into the air. “It was like he was trying to kill me or eat me or something.”

“Very fascinating indeed.” Coran stroked his mustache, face pensive. “Pidge, be a dear and help Lance stand up will you.”

“No,” Keith groaned out. He would kill her if she touched him again.

Pidge, after taking a step forward towards the blue paladin, froze, eyes wide. She recovered quickly, her usual blank, calculating expression returning to her face. She held out her hand to Lance, which he took, pulling himself to feet.

“I told you not to touch him!” Keith snarled, lunging forward again. He felt like his shoulder was going to break under Shiro’s firm restraint, but he didn’t care.

“I thought that his human side would be enough to create a balance,” Coran said, more to himself than anyone else. “But it seems as there are some very dominant Galra traits here.”

“Uh, can we have that in English?” Hunk asked sheepishly.

“It means,” Pidge said, rolling her eyes. “That Keith over here has actually gone ‘batshit’.” She used quotation marks around the last word, glancing towards Lance.

“Do we need to put him in a cryogenic pod?” Shiro’s words caused Keith to stiffen. _Like Sendak? They think I’m like Sendak?_

“No. You see, Keith is experiencing…oh, what would you earthlings call it? Aha! A rut!”

Pidge snorted. “Like a dog?”

“Exactly! Well, perhaps not.” Coran twisted the end of his mustache. “In dog’s, it’s more of a need to, ah, breed-” Hunk covered Pidge’s ears. “In Keith, though, and all Galra, it’s a short period of time where all senses and emotions are on edge. They become true animals – primitive savages.”

“That doesn’t explain why he tried to _eat_ me!” Lance pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“That’s because he wants you, idiot. Not like that’s anything new.”

Before Lance could protest, Coran nodded. “Pidge is right. While ruts aren’t primarily for copulation like earthlings, that is most definitely a factor.”

Keith felt his face heat up, and he turned his head, pressing his cheek to the cool floor. “I’m right here, you know.”

If anyone heard him, they didn’t show it. 

“He’ll also have the instinctual need to dominate in any way possible – be that through fighting or other means.”

“And we think it’s a good idea to let him run loose?” Pidge asked, hands on her hips.

Keith didn’t like the glimmer in Coran’s eyes. “Not exactly.”

* * *

Keith was beginning to think that the pod would have been a better choice than chained to his bed like some sort of animal. He could feel the sweat beading on his forehead despite the coolness of the room, and, as he slid down his face, he was powerless to wipe it away. He had spent the hours – or maybe it was mere minutes – switching between swearing and growling, all teeth and claws, and whimpering. Whenever the sane part of his mind was able to push through, he was unbearably lonely.

As the door cracked open, he sniffed the air, knowing who it was before the mechanical arm was pushing his sweaty hair out of his face. It was one of his rare, lucid moments, so his eyes, still very much cat-like, shifted to Shiro, only to find the man staring down at him, expression solemn.

For a moment, Keith was afraid. Sure, he had left Voltron once before, but, if Shiro were to force him to leave, he wasn’t too sure what he would do. He couldn’t return to Earth, not alone, and definitely not like this. Before he could stop himself, the words were spilling out, “Please don’t send me away. You promised you wouldn’t give up on me.”

Shiro’s expression softened, and he sat on the edge of the bed. “You’re not going anywhere, Keith.”

A desolate whine escaped his lips. “I’m sure everyone hates me. Especially Lance and Allura.”

“Nobody hates you. This is just something else we have to overcome.”

Keith’s face must have shown his disbelief because Shiro continued talking. “Do you hate me for what I did as Kuron?”

“That’s different.”

“Not really.” Was that a ghost of a smile on Shiro’s face? “We can’t help who we are or what we do sometimes. But, at the end of the day, we’re a team. A family.”

And, even though Keith could feel himself slipping away again, tears welled up in his eyes.

_Family_.

* * *

Keith spent his next two lucid spells alone, barely able to make out the faint sound of talking a few doors down. Even with a clearer head, it drives him mad, leaving him a whimpering, whining shell of a warrior. His skin was on fire, and he felt like he was going to die. During those times, he almost wished he wasn’t in control anymore, because at least when he was forced to the back of his mind, instinct taking over, he wasn’t so damn lonely. When he felt so enraged that he wanted to snap bones, his insecurities and fears couldn’t touch him. The silence, though, like a lull before a storm, only fueled his negative feelings.

When he came through the third time, he was surprised to find Lance in a chair a few inches away from the bed where Keith couldn’t touch him even if he was unchained. His expression was stoic, and it distressed Keith more than anger did.

“I’m sorry,” he said, voice hoarse and cracking. “You know I wouldn’t have done that if I could help it.”

“Oh, I know you wouldn’t, Mullet.” Lance kicked his feet up onto the bed, resting his hands behind his head. “Still, you didn’t have to go all Galra on me just to tell me that you totally want to jump my bones.”

Keith choked, spluttering out a weak, “I do not!”

The other boy raised an eyebrow, looking utterly unconvinced. “Right, and Hunk isn’t in the kitchen right now eating all the space goo.”

With a huff, Keith turned his head. Once again, the pod was looking more and more appealing. Or at least a muzzle so he had an excuse to not talk. Suddenly, he felt Lance’s hand on his wrist, far enough away that Keith couldn’t reach him. He let out a low hiss as touch soothed his heat-ladle skin, chilling him to the very bone.

The action didn’t go unnoticed by the sharp blue eyes.

“Does that hurt?”

“_No,_” Keith gasped, feeling the tips of his ears darken at the sound of his own voice. He couldn’t help it, though; for the first time in hours, he felt settled. He didn’t want to kill or…other things, and his skin wasn't scorching. It felt normal, better than normal even. Lance’s own eyes shifted, pupils dilating until they were nearly black.

Then, he pressed both palms to Keith’s cheeks, smirking. “If you wanted me to touch you, you should have just asked.”

And, though Keith rolled his eyes, he was glad Lance was there.

**Author's Note:**

> This was way out of my comfort zone for writing, but I hope you enjoyed! This one-shot was inspired by this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xdYIMdGLoY
> 
> Also, if you're interested in checking out some of my original fiction, you can find me on Wattpad at MissyFloral13!


End file.
